I've finally got 15 minutes to put pen to paper and record some thoughts about the NWOL trip to Montana and Idaho that Nathan Thomas, his friend Patty (from Stehekin WA), the Hubert Family (Kevin and Terrill and their four wonderful children) myself and my two kids embarked on.
Here is the route we did - a long arc through Idaho and Montana, traveling through the Clearwater, Nez Perce, Frank Church and Bitterroots Wilderness areas.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29012762
We met up at the Fernan Lake Ranger station in CD'A and rallied to the start of our adventure in Superior MT. We headed south on FR 250 and summited Hoodoo Pass, which marks the border between MT and ID.
Our group included a Toyota Tacoma pickup, a late model Toyota Landcruiser and a classic 1973 Series III Land Rover (88 inch).
We made it into the beautiful Hoodoo Valley and found our first camp spot off a side road near Hidden Creek. It was little cramped. Camp was set, the fly rods came out and trout were stalked in the Clearwater River.
The next morning, we packed up and headed down FR 250, along the Clearwater River. Stops for lunch and swimming punctuated the day. All the kids and the dog swam in the creek and the serene relaxation of a vacation began to set in.
That afternoon, we headed toward Pierce Idaho, where we pulled off the trail for provisions and gasoline. Kevin Hubert encountered transmission problems with the Land Rover - unable to engage a gear. He efficiently tore down the transmission cowling from the interior of the car and diagnosed the problem, which could not be repaired road-side. We flagged down a local in a DeSoto who helped organize a flat-bed transport back to Spokane Valley (their home town). We said our good byes and were back on the trail looking for a campsite.
That evening, we found another side-road camp site in what appeared to be a pasture with a salt lick (elk ? cattle ?) and settled in. My kids gave Nathan a few pointers on archery and a few beers were consumed later that evening.
The next day, we wended our way South toward Syringa ID, re-routing a couple of times due to excessively overgrown trails.
We eventually emerged onto Highway 12 and headed East along the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River to Syringa, where we stopped and had lunch at the cafe, and learned about the history of this remote part of Idaho.
We turned South onto FR 651 and ran along O'Hara Creek into the Nez Perce Wilderness. We climbed the Elk Summit Lookout trail, climbed the tower and flew the drone around the 100 foot unmanned lookout tower erected in 1939.
That evening, with the help of some Forest Service workers, we found a warming hut built by the local snowmobile club. We had the structure all to ourselves, and fired up the wood-burning stove and enjoyed the evening.
The next morning, we headed into Elk City, located 175 miles into our route. This is the Westerly end of the fabled Magruder Road, which connects Elk City ID to Darby MT through 115 miles of wild, desolate country and separates the Nez Perce and Frank Church wilderness areas. These two wilderness areas are massive, remote and both amongst the largest in the lower 48. In Elk City, we gassed up and bought groceries for the next couple of days. We visited the local graveyard to pay our respects and then launched onto the Magruder Road (also called the Nez Perce Road, the Montana Road etc etc). A quick stop at Red River Hot Springs was delightful and we found a forest service campsite next to the Red River for the evening. Several nice trout were caught that evening.
The next day, we were back onto the Magruder Road, which climbed high in the mountains and became progressively more remote. You don't want any mechanical issues out there. We took a side trip up Burnt Knob to the lookout station. This trail was steep and technical and was a real adventure.
That afternoon, we worked our way back down Burnt Knob and made our way to Observation Point Ridge at mile 240, which is the highest point on the trip - around 8200 ft. We found a great campsite right on the ridge and watched the fading light play off the lonely expanse of wilderness far below.
The next day, our trip concluded with the remaining 50 miles on the Magruder Road, and ended in Darby MT.
For those interested, I'm planning a trip back to Idaho in 2020, and want to link the Magruder Road and the LoLo road together into a 4-5 day adventure.
I look forward to Nathan's edits, as I'm sure I've left out lot of details...
Yeah, I would love to take this trip with you, Scott Sattler...
Going again in 2020??? This one is on my bucket list (most of the IDBDR).
Looks like an outstanding trip. Just completed the Lolo Motorway and Magruder Corridor with several great guys and am looking forward to a return trip for some fly fishing! :) Perhaps I'll meet up with you guys in 2020?
Well done Scott, thanks for sharing. I missed out on a trip over Lolo and Magruder a couple years back due to a collapsed lung and some emergency surgery, so this is on my short list for sure. Would have loved to join you. Look forward to the next time we can share some dirt. Thanks again.
p.s. This kids making memories on these trips is priceless...my boys still bring up hanging out with Hank regularly. Good times.
Yeah, that's a great area. We went through a portion of it for the Solar Eclipse back in 2017. We did the Elk City Wagon road which you guys did a portion of at least as it goes right by Burnt Knob (we did not go up to, but wish we did) and also the Elk Summit Lookout. From Elk City we went down into the Buffalo Hump area past Orogrande. Such much history and beautiful areas to explore, need to get back. We were hampered by fires in the area so didn't see as much as we would have liked. Glad you guys hit a light fire year
Scott and Nathan,
Thanks for taking the time to share the details of your trip. We camped up the Selway River last fall, and its area we want to explore more. Your info and tracks are really helpful. Really appreciate the effort to post your report.
Craig
Sadly, this software only lets you link to a third party video platforms like You Tube :-(
Posting up some stills I shot from the drone - too bad I can't post the videos.
Wow! Great write up, Scott! Thanks for sharing!
Dan
Scott, thanks for a great trip- it was really well planned out and a lot of fun! Just a couple of thoughts from the experience below.
I thought one of the big lessons from the trip was to always engage with the locals in the towns where you stop. Along route 250 we stopped at the Kelly Creek ranger station and the woman at the desk gave the kids airplanes and told us about the area. In Pierce we stopped and chatted with Bill in his Studebaker, and he wound up helping out when we had mechanical issues later. Similarly we stopped and talked to motorcyclers running the Magruder and they helped us check on lodging in Pierce later. The next day in Syringa we stopped for lunch and spent a long time chatting with the server about the area, and then it turned out Patty knew the cook from Stehekin of all places! Scott and the kids got a history lesson from the woman in the shop in Elk City that led us to exploring a local cemetery and helped us find a water hose at the fire station we could us to refill our supplies. At the Red River Hot Springs we ran into some folks running Magruder in a Jeep who called out some highlights for us, and pushed us to run Burnt Knob. And on the trail down from the pass we stopped and talked to a National Forest driver who was taking a truckload of mules up to the lookout, which was really neat. Towards the end of the Magruder we stopped at an old ranger station and learned about a wonderful youth wilderness program they run there every year. Near Darby we stopped to play frisbee and chatted with some fish and game staffers and learned about a great place to eat in town. All of these little interactions made the trip that much more engaging and special.
Another lesson was having some variety of entertainment and making sure to come up with some special moments whatever the situation was. Scott did a great job of having stuff to do, from archery, to drones, to footballs and frisbees. And we found neat moments along the trip, some planned ahead and some not- fishing, hitting the hot springs, climbing a lookout tower, eating wild cherries on the roadside, performing fireside skits, firing up an old wood stove at warming station, or going swimming in the river. I would even put the few bits of tough technical driving we did in this category- the run up to Burnt Knob was a challenge that took a couple of hours to complete round trip, and really scratched that itch for me on this trip. I thought the pacing was set up well for this- we broke camp late and we made camp early, so we didn't usually feel rushed, which enabled these moments.
Lastly, I loved the food on this trip. The pace gave us time to cook some really good food on the trip. Scott made dutch oven bread and cooked potatoes overnight in the fire! I got a bit smarter this trip and made a bunch of components of food in advance, and was able to pull together chili, chicken and rice, and steaks, mostly over campfires.
Thanks again Scott- we'll be back for Lolo!